


The Puzzle and Its Pieces

by ObsidianRye



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Angst, Fake AH Crew, GTA!verse, Happy Ending, I love fahc, Kinda, M/M, Swearing, kinda angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-16
Updated: 2015-10-16
Packaged: 2018-04-26 14:32:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5008420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObsidianRye/pseuds/ObsidianRye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ryan never could stay in one spot. Ray never wanted him to leave one spot. Ryan couldn't help it sometimes. And one time, neither could Ray.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Puzzle and Its Pieces

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! So this is my first AH fic, and first raywood fic, obviously. I hope you enjoy!

"You know what, I'm really tired so if you really want to leave go ahead."

Ray's voice was heavy with not only exhaustion but frustration. Ryan froze with his hand on the door handle of their shared bedroom. He felt his heart splutter and threaten to die right then as he felt the pain that shot through him at Ray's tone. He wanted to leave while Ray was asleep because the older man thought it would be easier, for both of them, but apparently not. Ryan took Ray's response as further proof that he was right. That he would leave the Fake AH Crew behind. And Ray. 

Ryan had never intended to stick around, he just wanted to do the one job for some quick cash, but years later he still found himself hanging around the apartment and running jobs with the crew. Ryan had tried so hard not to make connections with the other guys because he knew eventually it would have to end, everything did. But Ray, the adorable Puerto Rican nerd, kept grinning at him and he couldn't help but let himself smile back. And as he grew closer to Ray, he was forced into interaction with the others and then, suddenly, he cared about every single one. Ryan knew that when he did leave it would hurt the crew (but they had each other so it would be okay) and it would kill him. But he knew it needed to happen. It needed to happen before something worse happened. But then again, Ryan felt that nothing was worse than leaving Ray. And having Ray's blessing, essentially, to do so. Ryan knew that day would come to. The day when Ray would stop loving him, the day that he rest of the crew would stop caring. It always did. Ryan never fit anywhere. He never had and never would. 

Ryan opened his mouth to say something but Ray's light snoring snapped his mouth shut. As he opened the door and slipped out silently he felt hot tears well in his eyes. Ryan pushed them down and exited the apartment with practiced silence, the ease of the escape injecting a deep sorrow into his soul. He climbed onto his bike and rode away, the sounds of the motor drowning out his thoughts as he sped dangerously fast away from the life he had known for years. Only in that moment did Ryan let himself doubt his decision before steeling his resolve and pushing his bike even faster.  
/  
Ray hadn't actually expected him to leave. He had just thought that calling the man's bluff could prevent from further attempts to abandon the crew in the dead of night. But Ryan never bluffed. And Ray knew that. So why then was he so deeply surprised to find the spot next to him in bed cold and empty in the morning? Ray shoved his glasses on haphazardly as he cursed himself for being so selfish. He knew Ryan had some sort of complex that staying with the group would get them all killed. But yet he let his own annoyance conquer him and Ryan was gone. The thought floored him, he feet suddenly stopping as he stood halfway between the door and his bed, their bed, still in only his boxers. 

Ryan was gone. Ray felt his throat tighten as he forced his feet forward again, swiping an abandoned shirt off the floor. It was one of Ryan's. It dwarfed the younger man as he hurried out to the communal area. Michael and Gavin were sprawled out on the couch idly playing some video game while Jack and Geoff sat across from each other at the island in the kitchen, talking about something or other. Ray stopped again when his crew, his family, looked up at him. At first the normal chorus of good mornings filled his ears until the guys noticed that his face was set in panic. 

"Ray what wrong?" Gavin sat up, swinging his legs off the couch in case Ray needed some immediate attention, like a hug. Ray stayed silent for a moment, trying to decide how to explain. Ryan, the adorable psychopathic dork that I fell in love with left in the middle of the night because he can't get it through his idiot skull that we care about him. 

"He's gone. He left late last night," Ray's voice raised an octave or two above its normal tempo and he felt his eyes prick with tears. He swallowed thickly, staring at the floor in front of his feet, as the other guys listened with wide eyes, "Ryan left. And I don't think he's going to come back guys. He's not coming back."

Ray could feel himself start to break down and sniffed, running a hand under his nose and adjusting his glasses. One glance upward and tears rolled off his cheeks. Suddenly he was swallowed into a warm hug, arms squeezing his shoulders. He let himself cry into Jack's embrace as the weight of not only Ryan's actions, but his own, settled itself on his shoulders. Jack rubbed a hand between Ray's shoulder blades as he pulled back, looking at the younger man, determination set in his eyes. 

"We'll find him Ray," Jack said firmly, "We'll bring him home." Ray nodded weakly, wiping tears from his face, even though he doubted they would be able. 

But Ray should've known better than anyone not to doubt the Fake Ah Crew's ability. Almost immediately Gavin was able to see him on various security cameras throughout Los Santos, barely a blur as he whizzed by on his favorite bike. The crew gathered around the British lad's laptop when he crowed in excitement at picking up the gent's trail. Gavin showed them the first sighting he had of Ryan, barely ten minutes after he left the apartment. 

"That's him," Ray's whisper was hoarse and settled a solemn blanket over the whole crew as Gavin showed them the rest of the footage, in order of appearance. Ray nodded as he realized where the gent was going. He grabbed his keys, having dressed already, and headed towards the door. 

"Where are you going?" Michael questioned him, arms folded and a light scowl settled on his features. Ray opened the door as he looked back at the crew, his crew. 

"I know where he's going," Ray nodded at the laptop, "I'm gonna go get that jackass and bring him the fuck home and go the fuck back to bed with my idiot boyfriend."

Everyone looked at him with sympathy as Geoff spoke, "Do you want us to come? Will you need backup?"

With a single shake of the head Ray stepped out of the apartment and let the door swing shut behind him, stalking to the elevator. He had a god damn Mad King to put back on the throne.  
/  
Ryan had meant to already be out of Los Santos. But Ryan had meant to do a lot of things he hadn't done. Or done to late. He sat with his legs dangling of the cliff overlooking Los Santos, a river babbling somewhere in the distance. It had taken him a little under an hour to get to the spot. He told himself every minute he sat there, staring out at the city, that he needed to leave soon, lest Ray change his mind and go looking for him. But that's where Ray found him, legs still dangling of the dusty rock that he sat on. 

"Thank god you're still here," Ray breathed as he jumped of his own bike, trudging over to Ryan. He sat next to the older man, slightly out of breath from panicking so much. Ryan looked away from the city for the first time in hours, but he didn't look at Ray, no he looked at a rock to his left, ignoring the brown eyes he felt boring holes into his mask. 

"I thought you didn't care if I left or not," Ryan's voice was quiet and much more bitter than he intended when he broke the silence, interrupting the river's orchestra. "I thought you were tired." 

"Yeah well I got a couple more hours and realized how cold the bed got without you there you big log," Ray tried to play the whole situation off with some carefully placed humor, but found even he could hear the strained forcefulness of it. Ray reached out for Ryan and spoke again, "You know I didn't mean that Ryan. You know I would never want you to leave. I love you." 

Ryan pulled away from Ray's hand and stood sharply, startling the other man back, holding his hand as if Ryan burned him. Ryan mused that, in a way, he had. He walked a few feet away, his legs sighing at the movement after being still for so long, keeping his back turned to Ray. It killed him to do so, but if he didn't Ryan knew his resolve would crumble with one look from Ray's soft, brown eyes. Ryan realized that he had stayed only because he was expecting Ray to stop him, from the moment he told himself to leave. He realized that relief was starting to flow through his fingertips. He clenched his fists, hoping to rid himself of the feeling. Ray stood as well after a moment and cautiously approached Ryan again, a hand coming to rest on one of his hunched shoulders. 

"Come home Rye-bread," Ray spoke softly, his voice more than sincere. But Ryan knew that didn't matter. Nothing could change what would happen if he stayed. He wouldn't be able to stand if he got Ray hurt or killed. "The crew is worried. I'm worried. Please Ryan, just come back to the apartment with me." 

"I- I can't," Ryan's voice cracked as he swallowed the urge to turn to Ray and hold him in his arms and whisper in his ears that he was sorry, that he would never leave. Ryan hated himself for letting his emotions show so clearly, but Ray had tore down his walls so completely, had obliterated them. Obliterated him. 

"Of course you can Rye," Ray took another step forward, trying to catch the man's eyes through his mask. "It's your home."

Hearing the desperation that lay resting under Ray's voice was almost enough to break his resolve, but Ryan forced his emotions down, deep down, as he always did, or used to, and forced his voice to cool as he spoke, "No it's not. It never was."

Ray's hand recoiled, jumping off Ryan's shoulder as though the man had shocked him. Ray felt his heart sink, his own fears seeming to come true. His fear that he had never meant anything to Ryan, that the man was just pulling him along, that the man he loved had never loved him and never would. Tears that thought he left at the apartment snuck up on him, blurring the edges of his vision, as he backed away, staring at Ryan's back with wide eyes. "No. No. No, that's bullshit. That's bullshit and you know it!" 

"Is it Ray?" Ryan's voice was cold, so unlike the man Ray had gown accustomed to, but like he was when they first met, when he was interrogating some half assed criminal that thought they were slick enough to pull a fast on on the FAHC. "Is it, or is that just what you want to believe?"

Cold, painful doubt swirled in Ray's blood, coiling around his heart, and he shook his head wildly, his glasses slipping down his nose. "No! Stop it! I know what you're trying to do! It won't work, I know you. I know you."

Ryan laughed. He laughed, cold and humorless. He wasn't the Ryan that played video games with Ray and peppered him with light kisses and compliments every chance he got. He was the Ryan that Los Santos knew. He was the Ryan that gave people nightmares with just his voice, his words. "You know what I made you believe Ray. You don't know anything. All I'm doing is telling you the truth. I've grown bored of you Ray " 

"No, no, no, no," Ray's panic slithered from his lips as he wracked his brain to figure out how to pull his Ryan out of the depths of himself and back to Ray. He quieted and stepped forward slowly, a hand pulling up his shirt, Ryan's shirt. Scars littered his body, different stories attached to each, but one caught Ryan's attention, the same one Ray himself pointed to. It looked like a knot in a tree, large and twisted, the skin slightly pinker than the rest of Ray's tan skin. Ray's look hardened as he stood in front of Ryan again, his voice stern as he spoke, "I know you. I know that you're just trying to push me away so you can run again. But I'm sick of it, sick of you thinking you aren't worth enough. Do you want to know how I know you're full of shit right now? I remember how you acted, I remember what you said. I remember Ryan. I remember what you did for me then, and everything after. I remember Ryan and you can't trick that."

At some point in his little monologue, Ray's hand hand released his shirt and came to a rest if Ryan's chest, pointing at the man. Ryan lifted his hand to Ray's and held it, shoulders drooping. Ray knew he had gotten through to the man, and sighed, leaning into Ryan's touch. Ray used his free hand to lift Ryan's mask off his face, letting it rest between his fingers. Ryan avoided Ray's gaze, which was soft again as he explored Ryan's face. Ray stood on his toes and gently placed his lips on the corner of Ryan's mouth (grateful for the lack of face paint), so when Ryan turned back to Ray their lips were pressed together in a soft kiss filled with relief and sorrow and love. But when Ray pulled back and looked in Ryan's eyes he knew that the man was still convinced he needed to run. Ray stepped back. 

"Ray-" Ryan reached for the younger man, voice apologetic and pleading. Ray shook his head angrily. 

"No. No you don't get to do this. This isn't how life works, you don't just run away," Ray stood a few feet from Ryan again, anger written all over him. 

"I can't stay. It's to dangerous. Everything always falls apart." Ryan insisted. 

"That's fucking bullshit! Ryan the bullshit guy!" Ray's voice raised into a yell as he stood defensively, arms straight at his sides as his fists coiled in on themselves. 

"No it's not!" Ryan yelled. Ray blinked in surprise. Ryan had yelled, at him. Ray had seen Ryan yell before, but never at him, no matter what. Ray found that he didn't like being on the receiving end of Ryan's frustration. Ryan himself seemed a little taken aback, but continued nevertheless. "I'm a puzzle piece that can't fit! I've had my edges hacked off and bent and twisted! Maybe I can stick, force myself into a greater picture, but I can never stay. I always fall out, and the rest of the puzzle falls with me." 

Ray watched Ryan for a moment. Ryan couldn't make out what he was thinking or feeling as his eyes ran trails over Ryan. Finally he spoke, his voice calm, back to his usual deadpan, "Well I guess I'm a broken ass puzzle piece to. 'Cause I fit with you and you fit with me asshole."

Ryan watched as Ray's eyes glittered with tears, "If you're broken, so am I. If you can't fit anywhere, neither can I. Ryan, I go with you. There is no where else for me." 

Ryan saw a tear slide over Ray's cheek and in a few quick strides his hands were on the Puerto Rican's shoulders. "I guess I just had to look for the right pieces. I didn't think I belonged anywhere, but I see now. I go with you, Ray. There is no where else I would rather be. I go with you." 

Ryan leaned down and kissed Ray. The kiss was rough and messy with teeth colliding and their noses bumping against each other. But it held many promises. Some would be kept and some would be broken but at that moment all that mattered was them together. All that mattered was their love for each other. 

"Never do that again," Ray muttered when they finally separated. Ryan rested his forehead against Ray's. 

"I won't," Ryan breathed back. But they both knew that sooner or later, after a bad heist or Ray got one to many scratches, Ryan would run again, his tail tucked between his legs like a scared puppy. They both knew that this was inevitable, but they promised to each other anyway, Ryan promising to not only Ray, but himself. Although, maybe next time, just maybe, it would be easier for Ryan to crawl back into bed next to Ray. Maybe it would be easier for Ray to lay a hand on his shoulder and lead him back to where he belonged. Maybe it would be easier to trust himself with the prospect of happiness without conditions. Maybe it would be easier for them to love each other. 

Ray collapsed into Ryan's chest as the older man snaked his arms around Ray's shoulders. Ray hooked his own arms under Ryan's arms, hands gripping at his shoulders. The two held each other until Ray's tears subsided and Ryan's heartbeat slowed to a normal beat. The two held each other and listened to the river that still ran through the wilderness around them. The world had continued without them for that short time, that seemed much to long, and now their worlds could continue along with it.

**Author's Note:**

> <3


End file.
